That’s the number of people who have either left for better jobs or gotten fired in the year and a half that I’ve been at my small company. Our Glassdoor page reads like the first draft of a Comedy Central roast. The turnover rate is so high that I now actively avoid getting to know the new hires since there’s a good chance they’ll be gone before October. Sometimes I go to a park two blocks away and look at dogs for half an hour to avoid doing real work.

There are advantages. My manager works from home three days a week. Sometimes I leave 20 minutes early. Nobody gives a shit.

I changed my schedule so now I work 8:00-4:00 every day. I usually get in at 7:45. Then I play NBA Jam online for 45 minutes before checking my email and starting work. When other people arrive, I acknowledge their existence with a nod, plug my headphones into my work station, and continue playing NBA Jam online. Sometimes Carl and I talk about the Premier League. These are the only conversations in my day that give me joy.

Two weeks ago, I got yelled at for entering a conversation about breakfast cereals “too aggressively.” I’m sorry I like Cinnamon Toast Crunch more than I like any of the actual people here.

All of my work assignments are massive and usually take days to complete. This gives me ample time to not give a shit. Not giving a shit usually consists of throwing my resume into the void on Indeed, bullshitting on Twitter, hoping I get more freelance writing work from my company, and going on PGP to see if they finally published Nived instead of another Reddit list.

The days pass with mechanical efficiency. I know at some point I’ll find something better. But deep down, I don’t want to leave Carl behind..

A buddy recently told me his step father, when working as a big shot at a MAJOR local university, got tired of the job. He’d go to the library and spend all day reading, waiting for someone to say or do something. They never did. He was making 6 figures as well. To read all day. Amazing.